Chhath Puja.
Sydney: Chhath Puja is celebrated in India. During this time, women and men worship the rising and setting sun. Apart from India, there are many other countries where Sun is worshiped and revered. But why is this so, what is the logic behind the worship of Sun in other countries? Let us tell you about this topic in detail.
In fact the Sun has been a reliable source of light for humans for thousands of years. Sun is essential for our survival. Perhaps this is the reason why the Sun has been worshiped since ancient times in ancient religions such as Egypt, Greece, the Middle East, India, Asia and Central and South America. Early religions were also often associated with healing. Sick people turned to priests, exorcists or exorcists for help. In ancient times, people also used the sun for healing, but it may not be in the way you think.
Can sunlight cure diseases?
It is said that ancient people believed that only sunlight could cure diseases. But today there is more evidence that they used the sun’s heat to heal. The Ebers Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian medical ‘scroll’ dating from around 1500 BC. In this, a recipe for making ointment to “make the nerves flexible” is given. This ointment was made from wine, onion, soot, fruit, and the tree extracts frankincense and myrrh. After applying it, the person was “put in the sunlight.” For example, other remedies for treating cough included putting various ingredients in a vessel and placing it in the sun. The same technique is also used in medical writings which is attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates, whose period is believed to be around 450-380 BC.
Sunlight can cure many diseases
In foreign countries it is believed that sunlight can cure many diseases. Aretaeus, a physician active in modern Türkiye around 150 AD, wrote that sunlight could cure many diseases, including laziness. It also includes the disease we recognize today as depression. To get rid of laziness means lying in the light, coming in contact with the sun’s rays and staying in a relatively warm place. Islamic scholar Ibn Sina (980-1037 AD) described the health effects of sunbathing (at a time when we did not know of its link to skin cancer).
Sunlight is also helpful in treating asthma and hysteria
In book one of ‘The Canon of Medicine’ he said that the heat of the sun helped with all kinds of ailments, from flatulence and asthma to hysteria. He also said that sunlight “energizes the brain” and is beneficial for “cleansing the uterus.” Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between science and magic. All the treatment methods mentioned till now depend more on the heat of the sun rather than its light. But what about light therapy? Scientist Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) knew that you could “split” sunlight into a rainbow spectrum of colors. This and many other discoveries fundamentally changed ideas about treatment over the next 200 years. But as new ideas emerged, it sometimes became difficult to distinguish between science and magic.
Sunlight is the enemy of bacteria and viruses.
The German mystic and philosopher Jakob Lorber (1800–1864) believed that sunlight was the best cure for almost everything. His 1851 book ‘The Healing Power of Sunlight’ was also published in 1997. Public health reformer Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) also believed in the power of sunlight. In her famous book ‘Notes on Nursing’ she said of her patients: Next to their need of fresh air they need light, and not just light but direct sunlight. Nightingale also believed that sunlight was the natural enemy of bacteria and viruses. It seems he is at least partially right. Sunlight can kill some bacteria and viruses. (The Conversation)
